BROOKLYN WEATHER: Partly cloudy. Going up to 47 degrees. More Brooklyn weather here.
BIG NEWS: The Kyoto Protocol goes into effect today. 140 nations signed on to prevent greenhouse gas emissions to slow global warming trends, with one notable exception: The United States.
CITY NEWS: A Judge’s ruling that the city needs an additional 5.7 billion annually for students and $9.2 billion for capital projects set off political wrangling yesterday about where the money will come from and who will pay. Read all about it.
BROOKLYN BEAT: PARK SLOPE RESIDENT, SUSAN SOMMERS, the lead
lawyer for the Lambda Legal’s landmark litigation to secure the right
for same-sex couples to marry in New York City is featured in yesterday’s Private Lives column in the New York Times: "I do sort of travel through life assuming that people think I’m a
lesbian, and I don’t go out of my way to correct them; it really is a
part of my identity," she says, taking a breather in her cluttered
office downtown at Lambda. She joined the organization five years ago
after dropping off the corporate fast track to have her third child and
spend more time at home in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Though after a few
years of 24/7 domestic duty, she says, "I did kind of feel like I was
falling off the face of the planet."
_RENOVATION TO BEGIN SOON on the Park Slope Armory, which is being
turned into an indoor sports center. Located at 8th between 14th and
15th streets, the renovated armory will house a community-use sports
and education facility, as well as a women’s shelter. A non-profit
organization called Take the Field Take, will be contributing $2
million for the renovations. The Mayor and the City Council have each
committed $6 million and the Borough President’s Office has committed
$2 million to the project
_PUBLIC SCHOOL MID-WINTER RECESS is 2/20 – 2/25. Start making those playdates and plans!
DAILY DISC: Grammy winner, The Songs of Stephen Foster,(Emergent)
WEDNESDAY: Parent/teacher conferences at public middle schools from 1 p.m – 3p.m. and tonight 6:30 – 9 p.m. That means the kids have a half-day (do you know where your children are?) If you don’t have any kids in middle school: Check out tonight’s show at Barbes.
THIS SOUNDS COOL: StoryCorps, is a national initiative to instruct and inspire Americans to collect one another’s stories in sound. Over the next few years, StoryCorps will be opening
small recording studios, called StoryBooths, in public spaces across the country. The first is in Grand Central Terminal. Here, trained facilitators will help you record your interview with your loved ones. After your interview, you’ll receive a CD copy of your session to take home. With your permission, StoryCorps will add your story to the StoryCorps archive, creating an
oral history of America. At Grand Central Terminal, the StoryCorps booth is located in the Graybar Passage, off Lexington Avenue. Mondays-Wednesday and Fridays: 10:30am to 7:30pm. Thursdays: 3:30-7:30pm: Saturdays and Sundays: 11:30am-5:30pm. An hour-long StoryBooth recording session costs $10. Reservations are required. Call (212) 941-8553 between 10:30am and 5:30pm or reserve online. Check out the StoryCorps website. Information is also available by phone at (212) 941-8516
_Laurie Anderson performs her one woman with
violin show, "The Song of the Moon" at BAM 2/22 – 3/1. "Anderson
weaves stories, music, songs, and words into epic portraits of American
culture." Get your tickets here.
_The Wooster Group at Art at St. Anns "House/Lights" from Gertrude Steins, "Dr. Faustus." 38 Water Street. Weekends through 4/20. 38 Water Street. DUMBO.
_ The Moonlighters, Hawaiian steel guitar swing. Barbes. 276 Ninth Street at Sixth Avenue. 2/18. 10 p.m
FOR THE BIRDS: Great Backyard Bird Count at the Prospect Park Audubon Center. 2/19 at noon. Enter park at Lincoln and Ocean Avenue. Free.
NEW SNEAKERS: Registration for the Brooklyn Half-marathon on March 19th is now open.
_The 10th Annual Cherry Tree 10-mile
race is on Saturday February 19th at 10 a.m. To register stop by Slope
Sports. Seventh Avenue between Berkeley and St. Johns.
MID-WINTER VACATION TIP: 8th Annual Sports
and Arts in Schools Fest is a free 3-day long festival of sports and
arts activities at Chelsea Piers, Lincoln Center, Queens Hall of
Science, Riverbank State Park and Robert Clemente State Park. It’s open
to NYC public school kids in groups of 10 accompanied by an adult
during the mid-winter break from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. To register, call
Sports & Arts in Schools Foundation at (718) 786-7110.
HERE/SAY: "The question is not what you look at, but what you see." Henry David Thoreau